ARC Review: The Scorpion Rules | Enough with the Goats Already

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format Reviewed: eARC
Publication Date: September 22nd, 2015
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Pages: 384
Reviewed by: Stephanie
My Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
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A world battered by climate shift and war turns to an ancient method of keeping peace: the exchange of hostages. The Children of Peace - sons and daughters of kings and presidents and generals - are raised together in small, isolated schools called Preceptures. There, they learn history and political theory, and are taught to gracefully accept what may well be their fate: to die if their countries declare war.

Greta Gustafsen Stuart, Duchess of Halifax and Crown Princess of the Pan-Polar Confederation, is the pride of the North American Precepture. Learned and disciplined, Greta is proud of her role in keeping the global peace, even though, with her country controlling two-thirds of the world’s most war-worthy resource — water — she has little chance of reaching adulthood alive.

Enter Elián Palnik, the Precepture’s newest hostage and biggest problem. Greta’s world begins to tilt the moment she sees Elián dragged into the school in chains. The Precepture’s insidious surveillance, its small punishments and rewards, can make no dent in Elián, who is not interested in dignity and tradition, and doesn’t even accept the right of the UN to keep hostages.

What will happen to Elián and Greta as their two nations inch closer to war?

I received this ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. No compensation was given, offered, or taken to alter the opinion forth with.

The UN is in charge. In other words, it's your worst nightmare. Apparently, the entire world is so busy fighting (or trying not to fight) that no one cares to try to overcome the UN - where the great tyrannical leader holds utter destruction over their head like an axe ready to cut the head off a chicken before dinner. This doesn't make any sense to me, but I suppose that's the nature of war in someways.

The Part where I admit I DNF'd the Novel...

After reading the killer prologue, I had high hopes for The Scorpion Rules. I wanted to like this book, but after reading half of it I still found myself bored and still waiting for things to pick up. The only character I felt any real attachment to was probably Elian and that's not the greatest measurement since I felt Elian to be a bit flimsy. He's tough, but he couldn't seem to make a firm decision as to what he wanted to do. He's written well, but his character gets on my nerves.

Get Thee Hence Greta

Greta was really out of things. I didn't hate her but she annoyed me. How can everyone to choose to follow someone who can be so oblivious? Don't get me wrong, she can be quite the presence when she wants, but she had a habit of rolling over that bothered me. If you knew someone was going to kill you, wouldn't you try to escape? I don't freaking care if you're a princess and you're a "Child of Peace." Why would you not want to try to escape? If you know your surroundings and captors so well, why wouldn't you at least try to work out a plan? In a lot of ways, Greta was brainwashed. I have a hard time with brainwashed characters. Especially in dystopian settings.

Human or Robot?

The world building was a bit confusing. It took me about half of the novel to grasp what little bit I did, and I still think I'm missing stuff. Are the Swan Riders human or not? They have wings apparently but the author writes them like they're human. The facts seem to contradict each other and even after half the novel, there wasn't anything that definitively explained what they were. I understand their role/job, but am confused as to whether or not they are human or robot. Maybe the author did this on purpose but I like to know whether or not the characters are dealing with humans. Personally, I thought it was weird that Greta was so attached to Abbott - who's a robot I guess.

Please, No More Goats

There are a lot of ideas that will interest other people, but I had a hard time wrapping my mind around it all, and the story wasn't entertaining enough to hold my interest. You can tell the author knows the world she's writing about very well. Life at the Precepture is extremely well developed. The children make their own clothes, grow their own food, and care for a bunch of goats. Still there's a horror that lingers in the background. I did particularly like the spiders that electrocuted people. Don't ask me why, but they added an eerie effect to the setting. I have spiders. No you're giving me a spider than can crawl on me, stay on me, and electrocute me? No thank you.

All the same, I can only read about goats for so long and there are a lot of goats.

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